{"id":11446,"date":"2021-05-03T18:04:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T18:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/?p=11446"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:16:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T07:16:24","slug":"dr-adesola-akinleye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/2021\/05\/03\/dr-adesola-akinleye\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Adesola Akinleye"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Dr. Adesola Akinleye<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dance Theatre of Harlem Workshop Ensemble<\/strong>
\nGreen Candle<\/strong>
\nUnion Dance<\/strong>
\nCarol Straker Dance Company<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Adesola Akinleye is a British dancer, choreographer, writer, and scholar who graduated from the UK\u2019s Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance.<\/div>\n
Akinleye\u2019s professional career began when the Greater London Council sent a group of four British Black dancers to train and perform with Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1985. After dancing with the company for six years, Akinleye also danced with Green Candle, Union Dance UK, and Carol Straker Dance Company.<\/div>\n
Akinleye established her own company DancingStrong Movement Lab over a decade ago; she is also co-artistic director. She also enjoys a career in choreography, having won several awards: Association of Dance of the African Diaspora Trailblazers Fellowship (2005), Bonnie Bird New Choreography Award (2006), and One Dance UK Champion Trailblazer (2016).<\/div>\n
She earned a Master\u2019s degree in 2008 from Middlesex University and a PhD in Sports and Exercise Science in 2012 from the Canterbury Christ Church University.<\/div>\n
Akinleye has taught at institutions like State University of New York at Stony Brook, University of Manitoba, Dance Theatre of Harlem summer school, and Central School Saint Martins. She also has certifications in Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis.<\/div>\n
Akinleye is the editor of Narratives in Black British Dance: embodied practices<\/em> (2018) and (re:)claiming ballet<\/em> (2021).<\/div>\n
Akinleye\u2019s scholarly work is \u201ccharacterized by an interest in voicing people\u2019s lived-experiences in Places through creative moving portraiture\u201d and includes \u201cworking in response to the Brexit Referendum exploring\/dancing on boundaries and boarders [sic] with communities in Northern Ireland, Poland, UK and beyond.\u201d<\/div>\n
\n

She is now a Senior Lecturer in Middlesex University\u2019s Dance Department and runs a \u201cweb-based\/online BA and MA course for professional working artists.\u201d She is also currently a visiting artist at MIT\u2019s Center for Art, Science & Technology.<\/p>\n

*Akinleye\u2019s writings have been integral to MoBBallet\u2019s research on Black British dancers.<\/p>\n